Leinster Novice & Masters Road Race Championships 2022 (30th Apr)
Mullingar success at Leinster Novice and Masters Road Races
Gowran AC hosted the Leinster Novice and Masters Road Race Championships on Saturday afternoon 30th April in Gowran, Co. Kilkenny. Usually held on the May Bank Holiday Monday, this year it was changed to the Saturday afternoon in the hope it would make it easier for athletes and for Clubs to field teams and free up their bank holiday weekend. Entries were well up on previous years, though the numbers that competed on the day were on a par with previous years, with several not competing due to Covid, so it’s too early to know if the change of day made much difference in numbers participating but maybe next year will see numbers increasing if we can finally get past the Covid pandemic.
The first race of the afternoon was the Master Women 3k, which was two laps of the 1,500m course that started on a slight downhill into the village before returning on a long gradual uphill loop back to the start again. Working hard all the way and keeping prominent throughout was the Mullingar team, led home by Aisling Corcoran in an excellent 12th place overall but 2nd in her master category, followed by Maura Dervin, 1st in her master category, Caroline Mullen, 3rd in her master category, Brigid McCabe, 1st in her master category and Pauline Troy, 2nd in her master category, giving all the women an individual medal but to add to their delight, the team of Maura, Caroline, Brigid and Pauline placed 1st Club and 1st County, great results for our dedicated master women. The Master Men 6k followed and among the big field of nearly ninety runners was a very experienced trio from Mullingar. First from Mullingar to finish was Eddie Newman, 2nd in his master category, followed by Stephen Naughton, placing a very creditable 6th in his master category and Nicky McCabe, 4th in his master category, just missing a medal by a narrow margin. In the team event, the Mullingar men finished 4th Club and 4th County and were very unlucky to miss the medals by a narrow margin but they know they ran well and were satisfied with their efforts.
On paper, the Mullingar team in the Novice Men 6k looked to be the ones to beat and they didn’t disappoint. Staying up at the business end of the race throughout, the five Mullingar men looked strong and always in contention. Going into the final lap Vinny Connolly shared the lead and John Whitelaw kept close behind staying with the lead group. With 1k to go Vinny felt the race was his to win but in the final 800m there was a sudden surge in pace that he couldn’t match and a gap opened that despite his best effort he couldn’t close and he ran through for 2nd place, with John finishing strong and fast to take 4th place. All eyes were then on the others in the team and with Andrew Nevin, Gerard Gavin and Ian McCormack all finishing strong and well up, it was no surprise that the Mullingar men finished 1st Club, and only for a sixth runner would have challenged for first County too but they were still very pleased with their Club medals.
Well done to Gowran AC for being excellent hosts for the event and to all the Mullingar athletes on their excellent performances.
Eddie Newman, Nicky McCabe, Stephen Naughton
Aisling Corcoran, Brigid McCabe, Caroline Mullen, Maura Dervin, Pauline Troy
Gerard Gavin, Andrew Nevin, Vinny Connolly, Ian McCormack, John Whitelaw
